ABOUT THE RIVER > TOXICS

Studies have found that high levels of industrial chemicals also plague the Anacostia. Although the majority of the industrial sites that once polluted the river are now closed, there is evidence that the few remaining sites continue to leak certain cancer-causing substances, including polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), into the river.

In addition, during a large part of the 20th century, before strict environmental regulations came into effect, military and industrial sites allowed dangerous substances to flow into the river without check. These heavy metals, PCBs, and other toxic chemicals have never been cleaned up. While newer pollutants settle at the surface of the riverbed, at greater depths these older pollutants can be found, where they remain a serious concern because shifting tides can stir them up and bring them back into the river's ecosystem. Still more of these pollutants were left in inadequately managed landfills, and there is evidence that they are also leaking into the river. PCBs and chlordane, both of which have been banned for over 25 years, are still found in fish and clams living in the Anacostia.

The chemicals deposited on the riverbed are first picked up by smaller organisms, then by the fish that feed on these organisms, then by birds and people that feed on the fish. The pollution is so bad that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently shown that up to two-thirds of the native brown bullheads in the Anacostia suffer from cancerous tumors. Evidence also indicates that this toxic exposure interferes with the fish's reproductive systems, limiting their ability to produce offspring.

For more about the pollution in the Anacostia and the watershed in your neighborhood, visit Anacostia EMPACT.